Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrived in Cairo Tuesday for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the news agency MENA reported, hours before renewed peace efforts to get underway in the United States.

Arafat was first to attend an iftar, the meal that breaks a dawn-to-dust fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with intellectuals Tuesday before holding talks Wednesday with Mubarak, sources close to Mubarak said.

The Palestinian leader holds regular meetings with Mubarak, who plays a key role as intermediary in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"The talks will focus on the latest developments in the Middle East and the efforts made to overcome the obstacles blocking the peace process," an Egyptian foreign ministry official said Monday.

Mubarak was also due to meet in Cairo Wednesday with Yossi Sarid, leader of the left-wing Meretz party, who was dispatched by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Israeli embassy spokeswoman Ayellet Yehiav told AFP.

Another Barak envoy, Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, arrived in Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah II.

A visibly fatigued Arafat earlier attended a funeral in Gaza of a top Palestinian police officer who was killed the day before while trying to dismantle an unexploded Israeli shell.

Israeli and Palestinian delegations were due to start separate consultations with US officials Tuesday on ways to revive the peace process that has been brought to its knees by 12 weeks of deadly unrest -- CAIRO (AFP)